Products, Scams Made In China

David Utter
Staff Writer
2008-01-07

When it sounds too good to be true on the Internet, all one has to do is look for what the seller offers as a payment method. Bank transfer isn't just a red flag, it's a payment method that no consumer should choose from a suspect website.

The people backing cheap prices on hot products probably don't have a great customer service track record. Security vendor Symantec detailed how the spamming behind the Chinese product scam has worked recently:

A nutshell of the evolution of "Made in China" wholesale product spam as we've seen it is as follows:

• Spammer sets up shop on bidding and auction sites to gain customers for their wholesale "Made in China" products
• Spammer collects email addresses of people bidding on their products
• Spammer sends contact information to everyone bidding on their products
• Spammer sends fake winning notifications to these addresses
• Spammer sends direct mailings promoting their wholesale Web site to all addresses they have collected from the auction sites
• Spammer changes promotional emails to focus on holiday trends

The path leads from a legitimate-looking online auction to a third-party website, where if all goes well, the visitor will do some shopping. After all, the prices are great, even if the website isn't a masterpiece of web design.

Symantec researcher Kelly Conley cited the pay by bank transfer method encountered with one site as being very suspect. "What would most likely occur is that the spammer would close all bank accounts upon receipt of the money transfer," said Conley.

Greed is not good. Reputable online sellers accept credit cards, along with the fraud protection they provide. Just thinking about how easy it would be for someone to vanish with a bank transfer abroad should be enough to give shoppers pause, but it doesn't hurt to remind people of this.